New Dawn
by redseeker
Summary: Post 'Deadlock'. After searching for Megatron's body, Starscream and Shockwave instead find Megatron alive and awake on the newly rejuvenated Cybertron. (AU in which Megatron gets healed just the same as Bumblebee did.)


A/N: Repost :)

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For the first time in far, far too long, Megatron's optics were clear. No haze of madness clouded them as he looked up into the bright, blue Cybertron dawn.

Starscream knelt over him, one hand resting lightly upon the newly repaired chestplates. His frame was tense as he held himself ready to flee at the first sign of possession. No such sign came, and Megatron's optics shifted from the shimmering sky to Starscream's face. Starscream held his breath as Megatron's gaze found him, and recognition registered in his eyes.

"Starscream?" His voice was hoarse, his throat dry. He swallowed, and tried again. "Starscream. What...? Report."

Starscream's face lit up in a transparent grin. Shockwave, watching from the entrance to the gully, stepped forward. Starscream paid him no heed, and curled his body closer over Megatron's. He bowed his head and pressed his brow against Megatron's chest, and his wings trembled as he sobbed roughly, "Master. Master, you have returned to us. I knew you would. I knew it..."

"Starscream..." Megatron lifted his hand and rested it upon the seeker's waist. His memory was fuddled and riddled with blanks, but his head felt clear. "This is... Cybertron?"

Starscream clung to his master, and spoke into his chestplates. "The Omega Lock restored Cybertron, Master. And it restored you."

Shockwave saw the confusion on Megatron's face and chose this moment to advance. He sank to one knee at Megatron's side, on the opposite side to Starscream.

"Lord Megatron," he began. His voice was deep and level as always, and only a bot who knew him well could guess at the emotion that coursed within him. "When you were struck down, you fell into the Omega Lock. We thought you had perished... Forgive us, Lord."

Megatron stroked Starscream's back absently. He looked from one lieutenant to the other. "Go on."

Shockwave bowed his head. "The battle was lost, my lord. I am... ashamed, to say that we fled. But later, Starscream and I recovered your body." He gestured with his gun-arm at Megatron's shining frame. Megatron looked down at himself. With an effort, he pushed himself into a sitting position. Starscream, reluctant to relinquish his grip, slipped into Megatron's lap instead.

"You found me," Megatron said. He gingerly touched the centre of his chest, where the echo of a piercing pain still haunted him. "I'm whole."

"It's a miracle, Master," Starscream breathed. He nestled his face into the crook of Megatron's neck and clung onto him, as if afraid Megatron would die all over again if he so much as let go of his master for a moment. "The Well of All Sparks repaired you, made you whole again."

Megatron wrapped his arm around Starscream's waist and nodded absently. "I feel... good." He held his other hand to his helm. "Unicron's presence... no longer plagues my processor. The dark energon is purged from my system."

Starscream lifted his head just enough to meet Shockwave's gaze with bright, hopeful optics. Shockwave's joy was more reserved, but no less real than the seeker's. Their time alone together on the newly reborn Cybertron had brought the two lieutenants to an understanding, and if they never felt friendship for one another, they had at least found a measure of peace and accord. Thus, Shockwave did not ridicule Starscream for allowing his emotions to show so visibly, and Starscream didn't berate Shockwave for appearing cold and uncaring in the face of their returned lord.

Instead, they huddled together and watched the dawn grow brighter. Megatron raised his eyes to the sky.

"Cybertron..." He began to stand. He found his frame felt supple and strong; his old aches and pains were gone, and complaints from ancient arena wounds had been healed along with the Star Sabre's death-blow, so he felt like a mech newly built. He stood, and Starscream rose with him, keeping his body pressed close against Megatron's. Megatron found he didn't mind. "I want to see the planet we fought to restore," he said.

They didn't fly, but walked, together, to the top of the ridge above the gully where Megatron had come online. The _Nemesis_ had moved on, and the Autobots had moved their base to a more defensible position in central Iacon. Here near the Well, the dawn light lit up a silver-blue landscape empty of habitation, but filled with possibility. The very life-force of the planet showed as an azure glow reaching up from between the plates beneath their feet.

"The Autobots?"

"They control the planet, my liege," Starscream said softly. "Or so they believe."

Megatron nodded. Shockwave said, "A handful of Autobots cannot hold an entire planet." He paused, and then added, "We could still strike back-"

"No, Shockwave." Megatron raised a hand. He didn't tear his gaze away from the sparkling horizon. "I've already made the ultimate sacrifice to see this planet's spark rekindled, it's not a price I would willingly pay again. The Autobots need not know of our presence, at least not yet. I think an entire planet is more than enough room for all of us." He looked from Shockwave to Starscream, who still nestled at his side. "What does my other lieutenant think?"

Starscream gestured to the east, his long, graceful finger pointing the way. "Kaon is that way, Master."

Megatron nodded. "And beyond it, Vos. I remember." He squeezed Starscream's waist. "For now, at least, let us go home."


End file.
